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ARTSBEAT; Trumbo Gets His Due For 'Roman Holiday'

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Published: December 21, 2011

The whimsical secret of Audrey Hepburn's royal status may be the heart of William Wyler's ''Roman Holiday,'' but for years the romantic comedy concealed another more troubling truth: the film was missing the screenwriting credit of Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted writer and its original author, and instead attributed his work to Ian McLellan Hunter. Now, nearly 60 years after the 1953 release of ''Roman Holiday,'' the Writers Guild of America, West said it had restored Trumbo's credit following the efforts of Trumbo's and Hunter's sons.

Trumbo, who died in 1976, was one of 10 filmmakers - the so-called Hollywood Ten - who were cited for contempt of Congress in 1947 when they refused to testify about their political beliefs before the House Un-American Activities Committee; he served 11 months in prison and was effectively unable to continue working in the film industry. After Trumbo wrote the screenplay for ''Roman Holiday'' in exile in Mexico, Hunter, who was later blacklisted himself, served as a front writer, receiving the payment for the work (which he passed along to Trumbo) as well as the writing credit (which he shared with another writer, John Dighton).

In 1992 the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted to credit Trumbo for the screenwriting Oscar won by ''Roman Holiday,'' and presented his widow, Cleo, with a statuette the following year.

Trumbo's son, Christopher, and Hunter's son, Tim, who had been friends since childhood, decided in 2010 to contact the Writers Guild to seek the official restoration of Dalton Trumbo's writing credit for the film. (Christopher Trumbo died in January.)

In a letter quoted by the Guild at its Web site, Tim Hunter wrote: ''Obviously, it was important for Chris Trumbo to know before he died that his father's credit would be restored. Under the circumstances I readily agreed to see if we can get it done.'' He added: '''Roman Holiday' was tangible proof of a friendship, a symbol on celluloid of many friendships, and the manifestation of a pact between friends during a time of political persecution.''

Chris Keyser, the president of the Writers Guild of America, West, responded: ''It is not in our power to erase the mistakes or the suffering of the past. But we can make amends, we can pledge not to fall prey again to the dangerous power of fear or to the impulse to censor, even if that pledge is really only a hope. And, in the end, we can give credit where credit is due.''

Mr. Keyser continued: ''In acknowledging the contributions of Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter and John Dighton to the writing of Roman Holiday, the WGA has not undone the hurt, but it has, at last and at least, told the truth. That fact is a tribute to the friendship of two fathers and then two sons and to a thing we can hold on to, which is that the friendship was stronger than and outlived the hate.''

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.